Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams has split with long-time co-writer Guy Chambers and now works with Stephen Duffy. Remember him? Yeah. Track one of his eighth solo record kicks off with the lyric "Here I stand, victorious, the only man who made you come" to a simultaneously bombastic and mellow Queen-style number and you just know this record is gonna be great. Next we kick into the 80s-style reggae soul-based Tripping, then an early-90s-style rock ballad, then, alas, tracks start to sound similarly mellow-tempoed and get into overly sentimental turf. Things pick up, but not until much later. Williams has mimicked much (with tongue, methinks, planted firmly in cheek) while at other times touching notes of purity, and has stood up against criticism from purists and would-be intellectual hipsters alike. Here, he hits a monotonous note. I wonder what happened to that brilliant bombast. Tired, maybe.